I had loads of bees early this year now just a few. No aphids. No mosquitoes. I don't hear any crickets. I just saw my first Palo Verde Root Borer a few nights ago. Creepy! Lots of ants. Lots of scorpions.

Mosquitoes?! Been in the VOTS 15 years, and have run into 'em only twice. Plenty of bats and Night Hawks around, and there was certainly no shortage of black flies a few weeks back.

This post was edited by GermanStar on Thu, Jul 11, 13 at 15:24

GS, aren't you way up in CC or some such dry, rocky area? I'm in central Phx on an irrigated lot. So, you say, "Irrigation? Well, no wonder you have skeeters." Not so. This area has been irrigated since the late 30's. We got here in '86. No mosquitoes - but we did have bats at that time. For at least the past 5 years, we've had mosquito swarms that would make the Everglades proud. Over the years, the bats - and the swallows - left and it seems the entire microcosm has changed. Except for the *#%^%$ flies; they're here with a vengeance *every* year!

I was in NE Phoenix for a few years, now in Fountain Hills for the past eight. The housing crisis a few years back precipitated my most recent mosquito encounter, as a result of a bank foreclosure and breathtaking neglect in the form of a pool that wasn't drained. Eeeeeek! Not sure what you mean by 'irrigated lot', I have a drip system, and it runs for 2 hours twice per week all though summer. If I were living with mosquito swarms, I might suspect criminal negligence on the part of a neighbor. Sure there aren't any green swimming pools or other unsanitary standing water sources about? It might be worth investigating.

Irrigation = flood irrigation via Salt River Project canals through a system of ditches and pipes that deliver water to both agricultural acreage and residential lots. There are very few pools in my neighborhood; the one next door is kept pristine. According to Maricopa County vector control, we have species of mosquitoes here now that we never had before. And, we are being warned about West Nile Virus. :(